Tuesday’s Regional Sports Briefs: Wagenmann hurt again

Rocky Mountain College All-AmericanYang Yang, here spiking against the University of Great Falls in 2013, has graduated. But the Bears are still strong and enter the season ranked No. 5 among NAIA volleyball teams.(Photo: Tribune File Photo/Rion Sanders)Buy Photo

MISSOULA – Former Montana defensive end Zach Wagenmann suffered a broken foot for the second time in four months, likely ending his rookie NFL season before it even started.

Agent Noel LaMontagne said that Wagenmann suffered the injury while in training camp with the Arizona Cardinals. It’s not entirely clear when it happened, but it’s the same break he suffered in April while working out for an undisclosed NFL team.

Wagenmann underwent surgery after the April injury and will need surgery again. LaMontagne says he expects the Cardinals to hold Wagenmann out for the 2015 season to let him heal completely.

Wagenmann, who is from Missoula, was the Big Sky Conference defensive player of the year and earned All-America honors after the 2014 season. He signed a free agent deal with the Cardinals within an hour after the 2014 NFL Draft ended.

Ash impressed with Bobcats’ enthusiasm

BOZEMAN – The din during Montana State’s Tuesday morning football practice erupted occasionally, ringing throughout empty Bobcat Stadium and at times rattling across Kagy Boulevard and beyond.

Not surprisingly, it caught Rob Ash’s attention.

“I loved the enthusiasm today,” MSU’s ninth-year head football coach said after his team’s morning practice, Tuesday’s only formal session. “That was great. Each side kept ratcheting up the other side with some celebrations on good plays. The offense would make a play and celebrate, the defense would make one and celebrate louder, and it kept going back and forth. That really helped our practice, the enthusiasm and energy the guys had.”

As much as Ash liked what happened during Tuesday morning’s practice, he was even happier after. “The cool thing at the end of practice was that everyone celebrated together,” Ash said. “There was no animosity or carryover (from practice), at the end of the day we were all one day. I think they can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Several members of Montana State’s 2015 recruiting class fared well Tuesday, starting with one of its most high-profile members.

“I thought Jordan (Hoy, a true freshman quarterback) had his best practice in camp, by far, I really did. He’s very decisive. That’s the thing I like about him the best, he makes a quick decision and he throws the ball and he’s usually right. He was a little off on some of his accuracy earlier, but today he put the ball right on the money. I thought he ran the ball nicely. He got a lot of reps yesterday afternoon because Dakota sat out, and that may have helped him.”

The offensive line has operated in a state of flux throughout camp as senior starters Kyle Godecke and Alex Eekhoff recover from off-season surgeries. Ash said Tuesday that the two are making progress.

“We’re bringing Godecke along slowly on purpose. He’s actually 100 percent healthy, it’s just precautionary with him. Alex, his shoulder is a little more dicey. Our target all along has been to get them ready for (the team’s scrimmage this) Saturday, see if we can get them some reps in the scrimmage and see how they hold up.”

While two of the team’s offensive staples — running backs Gunnar Brekke and Chad Newell — were full go Tuesday, a pair of younger players missed time. Running back Nick LaSane sprained a knee Saturday and was limited to running on the side Tuesday, while tight end Austin Barth suffers from what Ash called a “stomach ailment” and missed practice.

Rocky No. 5 in first NAIA volleyball poll

The Frontier Conference is represented in the first NAIA volleyball poll by defending league champion Rocky Mountain College, which is No. 5 in the season’s inaugural poll that was released on Tuesday.

The Bears finished last season also ranked fifth. They set a school record by compiling 32 wins against only three losses, and spent 11 straight weeks ranked No. 1 in the country.

Defending national champion Park (Mo.) opens the season ranked No. 1, followed by Biola (Calif), Missouri Baptist and Viterbo (Wis.).

Grizzlies announce men’s hoop schedule

The defending Big Sky Conference regular season champion Montana Grizzlies will play one of the toughest nonconference schedules in program history to start the 2015-16 season.

Montana will square off against two USA Today preseason top 10 teams in Kansas (No. 7) and Gonzaga (No. 8), Mountain West regular season champs Boise State at home, and frequent NCAA tourney dancers Pepperdine of the West Coast Conference, and the Pac-12’s Washington Huskies.

San Jose State, Carroll College, North Dakota State, San Francisco, Great Falls and Montana Western round off the nonconference schedule for the Griz.

“Definitely a lot of reasons to be excited,” said second year Griz head coach Travis DeCuire. “Our guys are fired up about playing good competition, or I should say great competition. For me, sometimes wins are hard to come by when you play such a strong schedule.

“I think it carries over though. It did for us last year. Our schedule and our record didn’t really show how good of a team we were, but it carried over into January and February where we learned how to finish games against strong teams. If we can get a similar experience with that this year, we’ll be excited.”

A trip to Lawrence, Kan. to face the Kansas Jayhawks in the Pfog Allen Fieldhouse (Dec. 19) highlights the Grizzlies’ nonconference schedule. KU finished last season ranked No. 17 in the nation, losing to Wichita State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.